Phillies Open To Adding Veteran Bat

TODAY: Philadelphia has no realistic interest in Bautista, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. However, the other players mentioned previously — Saunders, Moss, and Bruce — are all said to be plausible targets.

YESTERDAY: The Phillies are still open to the idea of adding a veteran bat — likely an outfielder/first baseman — to their relatively young lineup, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Among the potential free-agent targets are Jose Bautista, Michael Saunders and Brandon Moss, although the Phils are reluctant to surrender their second-round draft pick (their first-rounder is protected) in order to add Bautista, Rosenthal adds. FanRag’s Jon Heyman wrote last week that the Phillies have some interest in Moss and would prefer any bat they add to be of the left-handed variety, and earlier today, CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury called the addition of another bat “likely,” speculating that Saunders and Moss could be potential targets.

Rosenthal also reports that a trade for Mets right fielder Jay Bruce is something the Phillies would consider, so long as they weren’t required to part with any significant prospects or MLB assets in the deal. (He brings up the trade that sent Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeney to the Dodgers in exchange for Howie Kendrick and the trade of minor leaguer Josh Tobias to the Red Sox for Clay Buchholz as points of reference.)

Any of the four listed options would give the Phillies an alternative in right field to the current trio of Aaron Altherr, Tyler Goeddel and Roman Quinn, who figure to compete for outfield playing time this spring. Kendrick is likely to man left field, while the recently extended Odubel Herrera is poised to reprise his role as Philadelphia’s everyday center fielder. While adding a veteran could, in the eyes of some fans, block that trio, there’s certainly a case that each could use additional time in the minor leagues to develop.

Altherr, 26 later this month, missed most of the 2016 season due to a wrist injury and batted a woeful .197/.300/.288 in 227 plate appearances upon returning. He’s also tallied just 53 Triple-A games in his young career. Goeddel, who spent the entire season on the Phillies’ roster due to his status as a Rule 5 pick, looked more than overmatched at the plate, hitting just .192/.258/.291 in 234 trips to the plate. And while Quinn looked sharp in a 15-game September cameo, the 23-year-old speedster jumped from Double-A to the Majors and has yet to make even a single plate appearance in Triple-A.

Rosenthal does note that the Phillies aren’t keen on blocking any of their young players by handing out a long-term contract, implying that a one-year commitment to any of the free agents would be the likeliest option. (Bruce, meanwhile, is under contract for just one more season at $13MM and will be a free agent next winter.) Minimizing the commitment would allow GM Matt Klentak and president Andy MacPhail to keep multiple outfield spots open for the 2018 season, when the Phillies will have a better idea of what they can expect from players like Altherr, Quinn, Goeddel and prospects Nick Williams and Dylan Cozens. And, adding a veteran bat on a short-term commitment will of course give the still-rebuilding Phillies a potential midseason trade chip in the event that he performs well and generates interest from contenders in need of offensive improvements.

Bruce and Saunders figure to be strict outfield options, but there’s been some thought that a signing club could put Bautista at first base on occasion, and Moss of course has plenty of experience at that position himself. Moss would, in my mind, represent the best fit, as he’d also give the Phillies a potential platoon partner for Tommy Joseph (as Rosenthal also points out) while allowing the team to give a younger option a look in the outfield should he prove himself ready with a strong minor league performance.

Lastly, from a financial standpoint, the Phillies can comfortably afford to add any of the listed players. MLBTR’s Jason Martinez projects a modest $104MM payroll for the Phils over at Roster Resource — a drastic reduction from the $177MM Opening Day payroll the team carried as recently as 2014. Furthermore, the only guaranteed contract on the books beyond the 2017 season is that of Herrera, as veterans like Buchholz, Kendrick, Jeremy Hellickson, Joaquin Benoit, Pat Neshek and Andres Blanco are all on one-year pacts. Adding another one-year commitment to the ledger would allow the Phils to maintain plenty of flexibility as the team looks to continue adding to its young core and eyes a return to prominence in the NL East.

How the heck is it possible to hit 26 jacks and only 45 rbi? Lol….No one got on base ahead of me more often than that and I’d be rounding the bases yelling “there was a ghost runner on second!” At the umps.

You mean 30hr and 59 RBIs out of the leadoff spot. To try and compare RBIs between a guy who hits out of the leadoff spot and one who hits in the middle of the order is a fools errand. I think we are ignoring that Granderson is just better defensively. Bruce also seemed to just disappear after the trade. So you take Bruce out of the banbox and you can say he was terrible in his small sample size.

Whoa my bad. Didn’t know he hit 30 and 59 ribbies is not acceptable, but I’m sure he will be better, but if you put Grandy in center, he won’t hit as well because he needs to focus on defense and will be hurting his legs.

I hate when people say Bruce is bad though. He is a good hitter and there is no doubt about it. Next year will prob be his most productive because of age. Mets would be wise to keep him and correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t Grandy making more money?

Jay Bruce had an ops+ of 82 last year. 18% worse than mlb average and he can’t play defense. Curtis Granderson had an ops+ of 111 and can play defense. So Granderson should be getting paid more, as he is a better baseball player. With that said, I believe their 2017 salaries are 13 for bruce and 15 for grandy, so yes, he is making more, but not by a whole lot.

There is a reason that so many of these 30ish hr no defense players are still on the market. Teams have realized they really aren’t that valuable to a team.

Does OPS+ count how many runs the guy drives in? I heard that no one was getting on for Grandy, but Bruce played for one of the worst teams in baseball and still hit very well. Jay Bruce has maybe more value to other teams than the Mets, but he can be a big producer and protect cespedes if need be.

RBIs are a pretty awful stat to judge a player on since they are dependent on the players around him. If you put value in a players ability to drive runners in, there are better ways to judge a player than his rbi totals, for instance you could look at his stats with runners on/in scoring position. But even that is likely too small of a sample in a single season to draw much of anything from. OPS+ does not factor in rbis, its an adjusted ops.

The name of the game is scoring runs, if you hit .150 with a .200 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position, you are not helping your team. Granderson isn’t exactly an on base machine either. He had a .335 OBP and isn’t the base stealing threat he once was. I think Granderson is a great person, but it may be better if the Mets part ways. Not to mention the swing and miss he brings to the plate.

Not so big on Moss I’d take Michael Saunders for one year and let’s be realistic they did not bring Kendrick in to play LF. I think he’ll end up at 2B. They got 2 more big moves coming before spring training I hope..

tommy joseph hit .306/.376/.565 vs RHP starting on july 1 of last year, which was good for 23rd in baseball over that span, minimum 140 PA, better than (for example) miguel cabrera. so i’m not sure where this idea that he’s crying out for a platoon partner keeps coming from. the phillies had a 1B platoon last year because of howard, not because of joseph

Phillies need that one bat and they are a .500 team if that rotation is healthy and productive for a good bit. Bullpen is now decently deep with plenty of options in the minors. Cozens will be in the bigs next year and may make an appearance in September. Roman Quinn is exciting, but injury prone and needs plenty of time in AAA before he gets a full time job. Lineup will be improved and rotation and bullpen are improved so they are moving in the right direction if they get Moss or Bruce. Saunders is probably the lesser of the options.

Do not bring Bautista into a young locker room – bad idea. Also, Michael Saunders? What has this guy done? He hit well under .200 in the second half. Hate to pick on a good ol’ Canadian, but I don’t get the Saunders appeal.

Seth Smith seems like the perfect fit for them. He has a high OBP sees a lot of pitches and will hit some HRs. He can play in the OF and some at 1st. I don’t see the Ms wanting a ton for him and his salary is only $7 mill. Dipoto has been shopping him I wonder if there had been any interest?

Well I’m judging him lol. Major league pitching has figured him out. I think that is the case at least. It is not his wrist because he hit just fine when he came back. Maybe he can be a lefty masher in the bigs but that is all I see.

I was surprised we picked up his option he doesn’t really make sense for what Dipoto said he wanted in an OFer. He was going younger and more athletic. He has amassed a lot of those router players. Bucholz would be interesting to see what more out would take to get him. We have a couple IFers that are blocked and a couple years out. Not sure exactly what your needs would be. Dipoto seems to want to deal though.

Jay Bruce could be Pat the Bat 2.0. But if Joey Bats came to Philly that’d be a bit awkward for a few of the phinest. Anyone on here actually gone to a Toronto game in Philly and sat in the OF lowers? Not a child appropriate area lol when Joey B was out there.

I think Altherr can be a sleeper. He was hurt all last year and that affected his play when he came back. If he’s traded, he will shine for another team and everybody will gripe about why we dealt him. Too many experts just look at what the player did the year before and don’t take into account health. It took Justin Verlander over a year to recover from core surgery.

Jay Bruce is out of his prime. He is still currently a Met but they should consider either trading, release for cap, or waiving that way he has an opportunity to play for another team. But a great fit for the Mets would be Jose Bautista due to the fact that he has a great bat, great glove and a good head on his shoulders. He could lead the Mets to a potential postseason run. I wouldn’t sign him to a huge deal but I believe that 3 years-35million is good for Jose

Bruce will be traded when the time and deal is right. Mets preferably want a left handed middle reliever for him. They have been in no rush to move him, but they will. I figured they may interested in Jeanmar Gomez, even though he is a righty. After the top tier and elite outfielders are gone, there will be more of a market for Bruce. That move may even happen in April, when a contender loses an outfielder to injury for a significant period of time.

Give Desmond Jennings a spring training invite… He was a pretty good defensive OF outside of last year and 2013. Him or Colby Rasmus. It’s not like you’re marrying these guys. It’s an invite if anything.